Iran is inching closer to the establishment of hazardous waste treatment plants, which would override the need to export hundreds of tons of dangerous waste materials abroad for disposal. “We’ve exported 1,500 tons of hazardous wastes, especially to France, because we were unable to dispose them in Iran,” Saeed Motessadi, human habitats deputy at the Department of Environment, told IRNA. “We hope there will be no need for further export of special waste, now that the construction of these plants in the country has become feasible,” he said, adding that DOE will continue to export the waste until the end of the current Iranian year (March 19, 2016). Proximity to special and hazardous waste puts the environment and people’s wellbeing at risk. “As a signatory to the Basel Convention, we are obliged to reduce the impact of hazardous wastes on human health,” Motessadi said.
